


Conversations on a Relationship

by helsinkibaby



Series: Dark Horses [3]
Category: West Wing
Genre: F/M, Het, Love Triangles, Romance, trigger warning: mentions of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-10-06
Updated: 2002-10-06
Packaged: 2018-01-21 23:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1567718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What does the rest of the White House think of Sam and Carol's relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversations on a Relationship

Title: Conversations on a Relationship  
Author: helsinkibaby  
Fandom: West Wing  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: Sam/Carol  
Spoilers: Up to H-Con 172  
Disclaimer: If it was in the show, it's not mine.  
Summary: What does the rest of the White House think of Sam and Carol's relationship?

 

  
"Sam, Toby wants to talk to you."

Sam rolled his eyes at Bonnie when she stuck her head into his office, her face bearing a silent apology. "You hid his balls again, didn't you?" he muttered to her as he stood up, just loud enough that only she could hear, and she chuckled, holding up her hands.

"I have no interest in Toby's balls."

He leaned down slightly as he passed, a quick glance ensuring him that no one significant was within earshot and whispered, "At least that makes one of you."

Bonnie spluttered and thumped him on the back, hard, and Sam had to rearrange his facial features into a mask of sub-ordinate fealty as he closed Toby's door behind him, fully expecting another lecture on the craft of speechwriting, or the importance of the brevity of adjectival use. It wouldn't have been the first time in his career, or even in the last few weeks, that he'd have heard such a lecture from Toby. And this time of the year, with less than two weeks to go to the State of the Union, Toby tended to be even more vocal about his pet grammatical peeves. Which Sam usually found quite amusing as long as they weren't directed at him.

"Bonnie said you wanted me?" He threw himself down on Toby's couch, leaning back, figuring that he might as well make himself comfortable. He was expecting a long discourse where he'd only be required to nod sporadically, agree occasionally, and take the nod note or two. His pen was at the ready, a blank page at his disposal, and he looked at Toby expectantly.

For his part, Toby was leaning back at his chair, not looking at Sam, seemingly lost in thought. The fingers of one hand drummed restlessly against the table, the fingers of the other stroked his beard thoughtfully. There was no sign that he even knew that Sam was there, let alone that he'd heard his question.

"Toby?" Sam tried again.

"Yeah?" He didn't seem any less distracted.

"Bonnie said you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah."

Still nothing followed, and Sam chuckled to himself, unsure if it was genuine humour or just nerves. Toby didn't normally get distracted like this, and the last time he had, it was right before the MS announcement. "Well, are you going to talk to me or should I get back to my office? Because we've got a pretty important speech to write and-"

"I'm going to talk."

"OK then." More silence. "Toby, is this about the speech? Because if it is…"

"It's not just about the speech."

 

Sam frowned. "Toby, is something wrong?"

"I don't know Sam. You tell me."

All Sam could do was shake his head. "You've lost me."

"You and Carol."

At the mention of her name, a goofy grin crossed Sam's face. He knew it was coming, knew it was going to happen, but he could no more stop it than King Canute had stopped the incoming tide. It had been happening ever since New Year's Day when they'd gone public with their relationship when he'd sent a bouquet of red roses to her in the office, and she'd kissed him in the bullpen in full view of everybody. He'd taken a lot of good-natured teasing over his romantic gesture, but he didn't much care. No more than he cared that people said Carol's name around him just so they could give him grief over his reaction.

A split second later, he wiped the grin off his face, having seen the flash of irritation on Toby's. "What about me and Carol?" he asked, immediately on the defensive.

"You're still seeing each other?"

Sam blinked. "It's barely been two weeks Toby. But yes, we're still seeing each other."

"Right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" There was something about Toby's tone of voice, about the look on his face that Sam didn't like, but he couldn't for the life of him work out where Toby was going with this.

"It means Sam, that you don't have the greatest track record with relationships."

"Me and half the West Wing. Your point?"

Toby was sitting up in his chair now, his hands gesturing wildly. "It means that we're a little over a week away from the State of the Union address. It means that we have Congressional hearings, and Republicans coming after us, and a re-election campaign in God knows what kind of state, and we don't need a story in the press about one of the senior staff schtupping one of the assistants!"

Sam opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, then took several deep breaths before he spoke. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Toby. It's nice to know how little you think of me."

"You've already had one close call with Laurie Sam, you can't afford another one."

"Carol's hardly a call girl; she's-"

"She's a White House assistant and-"

"But not my assistant. Or is that the problem?"

Sam's words cut across Toby and had the effect of silencing him, and he stared across the table at the younger man. For his part, Sam looked down at his feet, shaking his head, knowing that he'd gone too far with that. He was fairly sure that Toby had feelings for Ginger that went rather deeper than boss-assistant loyalty, and how that fit in with the fact that it was Donna he'd taken home on New Year's Eve, Sam really didn't have a clue. He did know that what he'd said was a cheap shot.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what I meant there."

"It's ok," Toby waved his hand, but didn't say anything else, and Sam found himself leaning forward in his seat to try again.

"Toby, Carol's not Lisa, she's not Laurie, or Mallory. She's got a Master's in English from Brown. She's been working for CJ since the campaign, you all know her. The Press all know her; they know she's not some…well, they know her. She works directly for CJ, not for me. It's not a conflict of interest Toby."

"You think that's going to matter to the scandal sheets?"

"The scandal sheets are always going to find something to write about, you know that." Toby didn't say anything. "We're not going to cause a scandal Toby."

"As opposed to all the people who intend to cause one," Toby muttered, and Sam found himself flashing back to a conversation he'd had with Laurie much like this one, and pushed away the memories of how that had worked out. Sighing, Toby ran a hand over his face. "Just be careful, ok?"

Sam nodded. "It's not like that Toby."

"OK."

"I'm serious." And, he suddenly realised, he was. He hadn't thought much about this before, hadn't verbalised the thought even to Carol, but he was serious. "This isn't a fling Toby. Not to me. We're not just schtupping. It's more than that."

And Toby looked at him, really looked at him, held his gaze for a long moment before nodding slowly. "OK." He took a deep breath and let it out, and Sam found himself smiling. "Now, about the speech…."

>*<*>*<

"Carol, come in here for a minute, will you?"

Carol looked up at her boss, who was leaning against the doorframe of her office, looking at her with a worried expression on her face. The expression didn't alarm Carol unduly; after all, she'd been working with CJ since the campaign, had been through elections, Josh and the Christian Right, Sam and call girls, Rosslyn, the MS scandal, to name just a few of the high points. If CJ had something that she was scared would rock the Presidency to its foundations, she'd be way more vocal than this. So Carol stood up and followed her into her office.

"Close the door."

Even that didn't worry Carol. Closed-door meetings with the Press Secretary were part of her job; after all, there were always things that you didn't want the Press getting a hold of.

"Sit down."

It was when she noticed that CJ wasn't sitting behind her desk, but on the couch, that alarm bells began to ring low in Carol's head. Hesitating only slightly, she did as she was told, looking at CJ, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"I don't know how to begin this…"

Seeing CJ, her strong, confident, capable boss at a loss for words meant that the alarm bells rang louder. "Is something wrong CJ?" she asked.

"No…the thing is…see…Toby expressed a concern…"

"A concern?"

"Yes. A concern. And I told him that I would talk to you. Not just as my assistant, but as my friend too. You understand?"

"Not really. But go on."

CJ took a deep breath. "Toby is concerned about you and Sam."

Carol was slightly taken aback, and it showed in her reaction. "What about us?"

"He's concerned about how it will look about a White House Senior Staffer dating one of the assistants."

Carol looked at CJ, blinking a couple of times as she considered the words from every angle. "Are you kidding me?" she finally managed.

"No."

"You mean, Toby is worried that the Press will make an issue out of the fact that Sam and I are seeing each other. As opposed to, say, a White House Senior Staffer and assistant having a one-night-stand at the New Year's Eve party?"

CJ looked down at the floor. "Yes. I did point that out to him. He told me that this wasn't about him."

Carol actually snorted at that. "Like hell it isn't," she muttered.

"That aside," CJ was making every effort to keep things on topic here. "He could, maybe, in a twisted kind of way, have a point."

"What point?" Carol stared at CJ, appalled, her eyes wide. "CJ, Sam and I were both single adults, who happened to hit it off at a party. We've known each other for years; you all know both of us…what's so wrong with the idea of us dating? He's not my boss; he didn't force me into bed with him … we have nothing to be ashamed about."

"Carol, I meant what I said just now…you're not just my assistant. You're my friend as well."

CJ's words, her obvious sincerity, had the effect of deflating some of Carol's ire. "I know that CJ."

"And as my friend, like I would with any other friend, I would warn you that Sam hasn't had the greatest track record with relationships."

That made Carol laugh. "CJ, who around here has? We've been living under siege for months, working all the hours that God sends…who but one of us is going to understand that, what it's like? The hours, the pressures, the things that you can't tell anyone else because it's classified or because it'd take too long to explain?"

"You may have a point there."

"Besides…maybe the reason Sam's had a lousy track record, the reason I've had a lousy track record, is because the right person hasn't come along yet."

CJ was silent for a moment before she spoke, and when she did, she spoke slowly, almost emotionless, as if she was trying to keep any surprise, shock, whatever feeling she had about that, out of her voice. "Are you telling me that you think Sam could be The One?"

Carol sighed, looking to Heaven and shaking her head. "I don't know CJ." A blush rose in her cheeks as she spoke, her sheepish smile making CJ smile slowly. "He's nice, you know? And he's sweet, and he's funny and he makes me laugh… He sent flowers CJ. How many men do you know who send flowers the next day?"

CJ didn't have to consider for too long. "Counting him? One."

"It's funny…I never even looked at him before that night. He was just Sam, just there. And then we got talking…" Her voice trailed off, not wanting to tell CJ just what they'd talked about, and one hand closed around her opposite wrist, her thumb tracing the thin white line there underneath her sleeve. "He listens…he made me feel safe. Made me feel good about myself." She looked up at CJ then, smiling. "I don't know if he's The One or not. But…"

"He could be," CJ finished for her.

A huge smile split Carol's face. "Yeah."

CJ leaned into the cushions of the couch. "Do you know," she said. "That you get this grin on your face when you see him? Or when you pick up the phone and it's him?"

Carol flushed scarlet. "I've been told that."

"It's funny," CJ continued. "Because he does the exact same thing when he talks about you."

Carol perked up at that. "He does?"

CJ sat up straight and patted her hand. "Yep. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've just remembered something I have to do."

Carol could only look at her as she strode out of the office like a woman on a mission. Then she remembered what CJ had just said about Sam, and she leaned back on the sofa and smiled.

For her part, CJ tore through the White House halls, knowing exactly where she was going, and with a look on her face that told anyone passing to get the hell out of her way or suffer the consequences. When she reached the Communications bullpen, she didn't break stride as she passed Bonnie, tossing the question, "Is he in?" over her shoulder.

"Sam's in with him," Bonnie called, not wanting to mess with Hurricane CJ.

"That's where I want them." Whether CJ was talking to Bonnie or to herself, Bonnie wasn't sure, but she went about her own business, and tried not to notice the door slamming across the bullpen.

Both Sam and Toby jumped when CJ entered, looking up from the notes that they had scattered all over the table. "CJ, we're in the middle-" That was as far as Toby got.

"This is more important."

"Than the State of the Union?" Toby asked her.

"Right now, it is." CJ stood in the middle of the office, looking down at the two of them, drawing herself up to her full height as she did so. "Toby, there is nothing wrong with Carol and Sam seeing each other. There's no impropriety, he's not her boss, no-one's going to care. Furthermore, he's crazy about her, she's crazy about him-"

"She is?" a surprised Sam asked.

"-And I'm not going to let you make us or them second guess that." CJ continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Whatever's between them, they deserve the chance to explore it."

Toby looked from CJ to Sam. "I agree."

"Good." CJ nodded, then turned her attention to Sam, who was grinning up at her. "Sam?"

"Yes?"

"Carol is not just my assistant. She is my friend. Therefore, if you hurt her, if you do anything to cause her pain…" She leaned down closer to him, her hands on the arm of the couch, her voice low, the voice that had whipped a roomful of White House reporters on numerous occasions. "They have not yet invented the painful ways in which I will make you pay. Understand?"

Sam swallowed hard. "Yes CJ."

"Good." She straightened up then, smiling brightly at both men. "Well then. Don't you two have a speech to write?"

The door closed behind her and the two men looked at each other in silence for a moment before Toby spoke. "So, about the D section…"

"Yeah." Sam picked up his pen and they got to work.  



End file.
